Of Catalysts
by eostellary
Summary: She comes to terms with something a bit perplexing when she walks in on a private moment between her sister and her boyfriend. Crossposted in AO3


It should not have been too perplexing but it was...at least that was what she thought. Then again, the sound of food containers and beverage bottles crashing to the floor told her otherwise. The female sitting on the couch jumped in surprise, effectively breaking away from her and her lover's kiss.

"What's wrong?" she asked, tearing herself away from her beau and sitting at a comfortable, respectable distance. The man beside her on the sofa had a meek expression and bowed slightly yet wordlessly at the person who joined them in the room. He knew it wasn't going to be an easy thing to explain, this situation between the two of them, but he had hoped that this other person was a bit more _welcoming_ of the idea. She was extremely smart, after all. The Niijima sisters both were.

"Y-you...and-and him..." one of the Niijimas, the one who just recently entered the room, said in a bit of a struggle as she pointed to the both of them with a shaky finger as if they were two culprits caught in a crime scene.

The other Niijima on the sofa cocked her head to the side. "So?" she dared ask. "You can have a boyfriend but I can't?"

"Boyfriend?!" Makoto exclaimed, eyes bugging out and jaw dropping. She barely realised Akira coming into the living room behind her, the tall, young man unaware of what exactly was happening.

"Yes, boyfriend," Sae confirmed nonchalantly, standing up from the sofa to retrieve cleaning materials. This _boyfriend_ stood as well and went after her, taking a pan and a broom to clean up the food that littered the floor while Sae took the mop to dry the fizzy drinks that joined the food.

"B-but..."

Makoto almost jumped when her own boyfriend spoke behind her. "I'm sorry; what's going on?"

The grey-haired lawyer faced the former Phantom Thief with a small smile on her face. "Mako walked in on us making out. Apparently, that's enough to send her into a shock."

Sae restored the cleaning materials in their rightful places once the floor has been cleared. She stood straight, her usual aura not entirely gone but not entirely dominating either. If anything, it seemed as if the older Niijima was a tad bit _breezy_ at the moment. "This is Nejima Hiroshi, my boyfriend, as you already must know. He's a taxation lawyer specialising on international businesses."

The man in question bowed politely once more and offered a kind smile to the younger couple. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

Akira fixed his glasses on his nose before he returned the bow for both him and Makoto, who still was a bit shaken by the whole encounter. "Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Nejima-san. I'm Kurusu Akira, but I'm sure Sae-neesan has already told you about me." The second year political science student returned his kind smile and laid a hand on his girlfriend's back.

Makoto's propriety and ethics kicked in and she bowed in a hurry. "Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Nejima-san." The younger Niijima stood once more, face looking a bit feverish as her eyes shifted from her sister to her boyfriend and back.

Hiroshi let out a small chuckle and squeezed Sae's hand. "Please, you can call me Hiro."

"Then it's Akira and Makoto for you as well," Akira said. He looked between the two sisters and then to Hiro. "Well, uh. That was supposed to be our dinner but uh...Maybe you can join me in fetching food again, Hiro?"

Sae was silently thankful for Akira's perceptive personality and she eyed the younger man with gratitude. It seemed that she and Makoto had a lot to talk about without the presence of the two men.

Once the males were out of the Niijima apartment, she guided her sister to the dinner table and fetched her a cup of tea and sat in front of her. Sae sat back with her arms crossed and let out a chuckle. "See, I wasn't this shocked when I walked in on you and Akira."

Makoto was immediately brought back to that moment two years ago, just after they defeated Jaldabaoth, and the thieves' lives had calmed down. She felt her whole face burning up and she couldn't bring herself to look straight at her older sister. "Y-yeah..."

Entertained by her reactions, Sae leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table as she steepled her fingers under her chin. There was a playful kind of wickedness in her eyes. "Why does it seem like you're having a rough time wrapping your head around this new piece of information, Makoto? So I have a boyfriend, big deal. You have one, too, don't you?"

Finally, the younger sister looked up at her sister in the eyes, a fiery expression about them. "It's not the same, sis!"

"How?" the lawyer dared with a smirk on her face, knowing that Makoto's argument was lost cause.

"Well, I...You...I mean...I...You..."

"I what? You what?" Sae echoed, biting her lower lip slightly to stop herself from laughing. No matter the situation, it seemed Makoto always had a way to make herself be so endearing.

She pouted, sighed, and gave up the fight. "...Nevermind."

"Iie. I want to know why this is such a hard thing to comprehend. I knew you'd be surprised but I didn't expect you'd react this way," Sae said gently, relenting the teasing for now.

Makoto's eyes casted downwards and a small frown replaced the pout. "I just never thought you'd have a boyfriend, Sis."

A perfectly shaped brow lifted and Sae hummed in question to her statement. "I wasn't aware I wasn't allowed to have one."

She looked at her older sister once more, eyes seeking to pacify her statement. "Don't get me wrong, Sis! I mean...It's a good thing you do and all that. I just never thought it a possibility..."

"Why?" Sae asked. Her arms rested atop each other on the table now and her index finger tapped unconsciously on her sleeved arm. "Were you under the assumption that my attention is mostly for you only, with some of it going to my work?" she teased, unable to help it.

The pout returned on Makoto's face. "No!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms. "You were just...all that time before, your words made me assume that you wouldn't ever be interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with men, since your work was male-dominated and you think of them as competition."

"So you thought I was a lesbian?" she asked with an entertained smile on her face.

Makoto winced slightly and shrugged. "Actually...yeah."

Sae let out a laugh before she sighed lightly. "Well, there was a time I was but it was a phase when I was swamped with my career back then as a prosecutor so I didn't have the time to explore it. I guess in a way I still am, but then there's Hiroshi."

"An exception to the rule?" Makoto volunteered.

Sae considered it for a moment. "I guess. I never really thought of sexual preference and attraction as linear things. It's two of the most flexible spectrums of this world. I certainly didn't fall in love with Hiro because he's a man."

Narrowing her eyes, Makoto stilled for a moment. "Wait...love?!"

Sae lifted her brow once more. "Yes, I did say that."

"How long have you been going out?!" Makoto asked in a high-pitched voice.

"Close to eleven months."

The brunette's jaw slacked slightly and her eyes bugged out, a scandalised look on her face. "And why am I only knowing about this now, Sis?!"

Sae was enjoying the situation very much that she couldn't calm her face to a neutral expression anymore. The grey-haired Niijima laughed once more. "I guess this is the closest I can ever get to feeling what a younger sibling feels."

"Sis!"

The lawyer bit her lips and let out a last chuckle. "Don't take any offence from it, Mako-"

"Tch."

"Listen," Sae said, rolling her eyes playfully. "Really, it's nothing against you. I just didn't feel comfortable introducing Hiro to you when we were in the earlier stages of our relationship. Admittedly, it was a difficult feat because you're smart and you are perceptive, and I wanted nothing more than to share this part of my life with you but..."

"But?" Makoto urged gently.

"I didn't want to involve you in a situation with no foreseeable, feasible future," the lawyer explained. "What's the point of letting you meet a man who would have been just a fling? I certainly didn't expect that Hiro and I would come this far and I think neither did he. I just wanted to be sure about us first before we let anyone know. Especially you. Your opinion matters to me, Makoto, and I wasn't going to let you in on something that even I was undecided about. If I were unsure about this and couldn't justify it to myself, how would I have justified this to you?"

It was Makoto's turn to chuckle. She took a sip of the tea in front of her. "Must you always be so overanalytical, Sis?"

"I have to be. I have made a career out of it, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon," Sae said with a nod.

A smirk formed itself on Makoto's red-tinted lips. "Things like this only warrants us to be analytical, not overanalytical."

"I know; I've learned that now," the older sister nodded. "Any case, you seem to have gotten over your shock."

Makoto shrugged and sat back, comfortable now. "Well, I already had some assumptions cleared and questions in my mind answered so I can be logical now."

Sae smiled. "Right, that's good."

"I'm happy for you, Sis. Really," Makoto offered, smiling warmly. "I think you two are a good fit."

Cocking her head to the side, the lawyer blinked at her younger sister. "How do you know that? You don't even know him yet."

"I think your relationship of eleven months is enough to go by," Makoto said. "You always told me that there will be people, both male and female, who will serve as detractors and try to blind us from achieving our potential, not just as women but as people. But, you also said that there will be people who will be catalysts and motivators in our lives, and will recognise our worth as individuals. I have long found those people with the Thieves, most especially Akira. If you can tell me with all seriousness that you love Hiro and that you've been with him for close to eleven months now, then I can safely say he's your catalyst and motivator."

Sae closed her eyes and smiled softly, sighing in content. "Nicely put, Mako. And thank you."

Makoto's brow lifted slightly. "Whatever for?"

"For being okay about all this. I never expected it to be an easy thing to tell you but it's a relief all the same," she said, opening her eyes.

Makoto chuckled. "So...what made you decide to finally tell me?"

"We're thinking of getting married soon and-"

"He has proposed?!" Makoto exclaimed, shock reigning over her again. "What?! When?!"

Sae rolled her eyes once more and shook her head. "Honestly, this world will never run out of things to surprise you."

" _Siiiiiiis_!"

"Calm down, Mako. And to answer your question, no. He didn't ipropose/i. It's a mutual agreement," Sae informed her. "But it's not happening anytime soon. We're far too busy this year. Probably next year after you graduate. It's still indefinite but it's most definitely a plan."

"I-I see." Makoto finished her tea and sighed in refreshment. "I suppose that's how it will eventually go anyways."

"The wedding thing isn't too much to take in?" Sae asked, concerned.

Her younger sister shook her head. "Not really, no," Makoto responded. "Well, maybe for the few seconds of it being announced it was, but I'm logical again now so..."

"You really are an odd girl," Sae chuckled. "I presume you and Akira have a similar understanding regarding your future as a couple as well? You're far more established than Hiro and I are, after all."

The question caught the younger Niijima off guard. How was it that her sister is able to discuss such things like how she would discuss the weather? Then again this was Niijima Sae and rarely was there ever a thing that fazed her.

A blush formed on her cheeks lightly and she nodded. "Somehow, someway. We don't dwell too much on it yet. We both want to finish our studies first before we take the next step. And it's not like Akira will propose as well. We've already come to an agreement some time ago."

"And?"

"Maybe two or three years after Akira's graduation," Makoto nodded, a weight lifting off her chest. She used to be slightly apprehensive of bringing up the topic of marriage with her sister, but the tables seemed to have turned now.

Sae approved with a nod. "Wise."

Makoto smiled softly, shifting a little more comfortably on the chair. "So what's his story? I want to know why Hiro, among all the people who ever tried asking you out, stood out for you."

The lawyer stood and fetched the kettle and a cup for herself. "Well, it's not really just one reason. There's his personality, of course. He treats people equally, which I like. Doesn't matter if you're the president of a company or that company's janitor. You'll be treated with respect and kindness. Also, his skills in legal taxation is something I do admire, since that's not my field of expertise. Furthermore, like what you said, he respects my skills and intellect as an individual and admires me for it. He's very supportive, attends any litigation I am involved in whenever his schedule permits. He looks more like a sophisticated gangster than a lawyer but he's very sweet, too."

Makoto chuckled. "Yeah, I noticed. You like bad boy-looking men, it seems."

"Not really, just him," Sae chuckled. "Most of all, he makes me feel great...if you know what I mean."

Makoto's brows furrowed and she sighed dejectedly. "I did not need to know that."

"What? It's an important component in a romantic relationship, is it not?" Sae smirked. "You can talk about your sex life with your friends but not with your own sister? And here I thought I was your first best friend."

"Just...stop," Makoto groaned, highly tempted to put her face in her hands but she managed not to do so. "And we don't talk about our respective sex lives!"

Letting out a chuckle, Sae sipped her cup of tea. "Huh. Wrong assumption on my part, I guess."

"Very, _very_ wrong," Makoto stressed.

Sae waved her hand dismissively. "I stand corrected, then. Anyways, I'm sorry I had to lie about the situation tonight so I could get you to order food for four people. And the food was wasted on top of it..."

"No, it's nothing," Makoto said. "Call it a happy accident."

Sae smiled and stood up to retrieve a small notebook from her bag before she reclaimed her place on the chair. "Right, then. The guys won't be back anytime soon. Want to help me brainstorm ideas for my wedding?"


End file.
